Cowboy's 20L build

[Countryreef]

Very clean looking setup.

[CowboyRWN]

I have two newbish questions. First when I get my LR tomorrow should I scrub it in some salt water before I put it in my tank or just put it straight in? Second, my return has a sponge that fits aroung the intake, should I put it in or leave it off?

 

Thanks.

[CowboyRWN]

I got my rock today. Cinco de Mayo marks the birth of my tank. I need to drink a Corona.

 

 

I went ahead and scrubbed my rock, but did not go to town on it. I would still like to have some thoughts on that sponge in my return pump, if I should have it or not. Here are the rocks, I haven't made my mind up on my rockscape yet. I am using an old FW light I have for now. I will have my new T5 fixture soon enough.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

 

 

[doolspin]

Cowboy, tank looks sharp, well done.

 

I never put sponges on anything that moves water to/from the sump. I made the mistake of putting a prefilter on my overflow and almost flooded my apt. (didn't clean it often enough) If I ever stir up detritus in my tank I take some teddy bear stuffing and put it in my baffles. Clears the water up nicely. And if you forget to take it out and it clogs up, the water just flows over the next baffle, no flood!

[CowboyRWN]

Cowboy, tank looks sharp, well done.

 

I never put sponges on anything that moves water to/from the sump. I made the mistake of putting a prefilter on my overflow and almost flooded my apt. (didn't clean it often enough) If I ever stir up detritus in my tank I take some teddy bear stuffing and put it in my baffles. Clears the water up nicely. And if you forget to take it out and it clogs up, the water just flows over the next baffle, no flood!

 

 

Good idea. Thanks for the advice. I will take it out.

[CowboyRWN]

I spent a couple of hours working on my rockscape. I came up with this. I never thought this would be as hard as it was. I tried to leave as many ledges as I could and I wanted it to have some open areas and caves to keep it from looking like a pile of rocks. I am still worried it looks that way. I am wondering if my air chisel is in order to get some smaller shapes. I went with a big and small island like layout. Let me know what you think. I am waiting until I am sure about the layout before I add sand.

 

 

 

 

[Weetabix7]

Sealife rock?

Really nice rock, but it comes in boulder shapes that are hard to aquascape with.

I think the only way you're gonna do much better is to chisel it, as you said.

[CowboyRWN]

We have bugs!! I have pods all over my glass. I am really surprised how excited this made me. I broke up a few pieces of rock and got some of that reef putty and I am going to re-do the rock scape. It is pretty easy to get the shapes you are looking for with a cold chisel and a hammer. I found a mantis shrimp in the rock I busted up. It scared the *!@ out of me when it exploded out onto my garage floor. I have my sand now, just waiting to put it in. I have 2-3 tiny feather dusters and I think a red sponge all on one rock. I hope the dusters make it. We are around 2ppm ammonia and no nitrite yet.

[bonsai reefer]

looks good so far you should go look around the lfs for a nice flat piece of lace rock to use as a ledge .In soon enough time the lace will be covered in coraline as well as the rest of the rock.Sorry I haven't returned your calls it's been a little hectic around here lately.

[CowboyRWN]

Here is the latest. I have added 20 lbs. of live sand and changed my rockscape again. I used reef putty to glue some large pieces together to make a few shapes that look much better than the pile of rocks I had before. I may change a few of the smaller rocks again, but I am pleased for now. It appears my nitrogen cycle is done. I have added a mini CUC and will add more in a couple of weeks. I want to be sure I am not doing something wrong before I kill a whole CUC. I got 3 tricolor hermits (no blue legs or scarlets available yet), 5 nass. and 5 Ceriths. The are getting down on this algea bloom. I also added a golf ball size hunk of chaeto. I did notice a couple of very long white worms coming out of the rock. I think they are spaghetti worms, but I have not been able to get a picture yet. They were probably 6 inchs long and retract quickly when I turn on the light. Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bonsai reefer]

Still is missing somthing ? Make sure you leave enough roon to clean the sides mabye shift to the right a little ?? just my 2c.

[CowboyRWN]

Here is the latest. So far my CUC consists of 5 Nassarius, 10 Cerith 3 tri-color hermits. I will be adding to it as I go. I am going to add more hermits as soon as I can find some Blue legs or Scarlets. I also tweaked my rockscape again. I think I am liking this a little better and plan to stick with it. I have a piece of flat live rock I put off to the right side. It has a nice shape and makes a good little cave for a critter to be named later. I bought my first frag. There was a zoa in the bargin frag bin that caught my eye. I also got a Ocellaris Clown that has some awesome bright coloration. I made a tank cover a la stoneywaters with a window screen frame kit and bird garden netting.

 

I am debating my T5 fixture between the 24" Aquaticlife and the 24" or 30" Sundial by Current. I am worried a 24" fixture on a 30" tank will not look right. My other concern is the noise of the mechanical timers versus the problem of the digital timer needing reset if I am away and the power kicks off. Any opinions?

 

I need some advice from you veterans. I have a little bit of an ammonia spike going. It looks like under .25 ppm. Is this common when adding a fish? My nitrite is zero and nitrate is almost zero.

 

Ammonia .25

Nitrite 0 ppm

Nitrate <5ppm

ph 8.0

SG 1.024

 

I am going to do a water change first thing in the morning, but I just did one 3-4 days ago. The clown is a spaz and is swimming back and forth around the top of the tank. I think it sees its reflection. She hasn't eaten but a bite yesterday or today. I am worried.

 

FTS

 

 

Zoa - I have it at the top until I get my new light.

 

 

 

Top - this one is for stoney waters.

 

[CowboyRWN]

My ammonia issue seems to be subsiding, but the clown is not eating as I would like. I am feeding a flake given to me by my LFS. She just take one little taste and then goes back to swimming.

[bonsai reefer]

I wouldn't worry to much about the clown they can be a little skittish at first but she should come around in no time .

[fiction101]

I would of stuck with the original scape, it looked really good and more natural. Now it's just a wall of rock, but I'm sure you'll be rearranging rocks as you get more corals.

[pismo_reefer]

My ammonia issue seems to be subsiding, but the clown is not eating as I would like. I am feeding a flake given to me by my LFS. She just take one little taste and then goes back to swimming.

 

she'll eat when she's hungry.

[Gamez19]

My clown did the exact same thing! I tried everything from mysis shrimp, to pellets, flakes, and even a piece of chicken and ribs lol. I had to literally crush every pellet and flake for her princess butt just for her to barely take one nip and swim off! Finally one week later, after about a day or so without feeding, I dropped in some brine shrimp and she tore it up! So call it hunger, or just getting used to the habitat, they'll come around.

[CowboyRWN]

My clown did the exact same thing! I tried everything from mysis shrimp, to pellets, flakes, and even a piece of chicken and ribs lol. I had to literally crush every pellet and flake for her princess butt just for her to barely take one nip and swim off! Finally one week later, after about a day or so without feeding, I dropped in some brine shrimp and she tore it up! So call it hunger, or just getting used to the habitat, they'll come around.

 

 

Thanks!!! I feel better knowing a few people had a similar experience. I am used to freshwater fish.

[CowboyRWN]

Well I have some developments. My clown is doing great. I actually bought a firefish too. I am wanting to stock with fish before I get too crazy with the corals. I knew I was going to have to double up the mesh on my cover because if that firefish hit it perfect he would get out. Well guess what happened? I did not do it immediately and came home to firefish jerky. I feel bad because I knew better. I got a nice xenia frag yesterday. I made some adjustments to my AC and my fish room does not go above 76 degrees on a 100 degree day, this is much cooler than it was. My temp was going up to 82-83 degrees during the day. I moved some of my rocks again. I will post a FTS soon.

 

My CUC is currently;

 

6 generic hermits

10 Ceriths

6 Nassarius

Cheato

 

I am trying to get some more hermits (waiting for scarlets) and want to get a few more nassarius snails. I am working on my DIY ATO system and I will probably order my light on Monday.

[MGDMIRAGE]

Did you ever get a new light? I highly recommend the 30" sundial it's like maybe 6 bucks more than the 24" but looks much more proportionate I love my light so far with the single cord and dual built in timers. If i can find the link i'll shoot it to ya, i got my 30" for $206 bucks shipped and it got here in like 3 days from other side of the US.

 

Your tank is looking great so far

 

Ok i found the link! I guess it was $208 i paid, but way cheaper than anywhere else i looked.

 

Fishtanksdirect 30" Sundial T5ho fixture.

[CowboyRWN]

I am still waiting to get my light and protein skimmer. Need to make sure I have the $$$. I am getting a lot of coraline and have added a little to my CUC. I added some margarita snails, aka algae bulldozers. They are doing the trick. I will take them back when I start getting some more corals. I still have not come up with a good cover I like. I am playing with a few ideas.

 

I have gotten about 80% of my DIY ATO done. It is probably costing me $50 to do it, but I think it is pretty cool and looks pro if I do say so myself. I wired in a LED so I know when it is running. I need to fashion a mounting bracket and I am there. Here are some pics. I just flipped on the light, so my Xenia is not completely awake. It is happy and has split twice though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CowboyRWN]

Here is a quick update.

 

I was struggling with my top and lost some fish figuring it out. The solution to my problem was nylon "toole" from the fabric store. I put it into a frame I made with the a window screen frame kit. It works perfectly, letting enough airflow to keep my tank cool, keeping small fish in and not blocking any light to speak of.

 

I drilled a few more holes in my overflow to get the water level down a bit. Seems to have worked, but I wish I would have cut my grooves a little lower to start with.

 

I have added a Florida Ric which is doing well. I am still waiting on my light, but I think I am getting a bonus in a few weeks, so that should be coming soon.

 

One issue I am dealing with is, my Xenia does not look so hot. It has turned white in a few spots on its "arms" and folded over. Almost like it is getting soft in that area and can not stand up.. I put in some charcoal today in case something found its way into the tank that shouldn't have, but it went from doing great and splitting 3 times to this current level of unhappiness.

 

My parameters are;

temp - 80.0 F

pH - 8.0

salinity - 1.024

Ammonia - 0 ppm

trite - 0 ppm

trate - 0 ppm

KH - 143.2 ppm

[Weetabix7]

I don't know how to translate that KH into a normal Alk measurement.

I'd like to know though, cause if you're Alk is off, it could explain your Xenia difficulties.

[Militant Jurist]

I don't know how to translate that KH into a normal Alk measurement.

I'd like to know though, cause if you're Alk is off, it could explain your Xenia difficulties.

 

I believe that's a 7.96 dKH.

[CowboyRWN]

I believe that's a 7.96 dKH.

 

 

yeah it was 8 dKH, is that off?